Love's Pain
by yingyang
Summary: This is my first fic. It's a MWPP fic. I suck at summaries (& I know you've heard this before), and besides, I'm not really sure where this is going anyway. If you do decide to read, please review, esp. if you have any criticism.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: The usual. I do not own any of J. K. Rowling's wonderful characters, ideas, yada, yada, yada. If you recognize anything, it doesn't belong to me. If you don't, it is MINE. This applies to all chapters.  
  
A/N: An attempt at a lily/james fic! What's more, a romance! *gasps of horror* Hope it isn't too horrible. Please review and tell me how badly I'm doing. This one doesn't have a title yet. I'm accepting any ideas. Here goes nothing.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Five-year-old Lily Evans had the perfect life. She was a child prodigy, a singing sensation. She had a perfect family. Her parents, Violet and Paul, gave her everything she wanted. But there was one thing she wanted more than anything. The one thing her parents could not give her.  
  
She longed to be able to do magic. Like her older brother Brett could. Like her adored aunt Rose could.  
  
Brett was a fourth year Slytherin at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lily and Brett had never been the best of friends, but since he began attending Hogwarts, Lily had adored him, almost hero-worshipped him. In Lily's eyes, Brett could do no wrong, and he was the most wonderful of wonderfuls.  
  
On the other hand, Rose was Lily's best friend. Lily learned everything about the wizarding world from Rose. Lily spent more time with Rose than with her parents. The only other wizard Lily knew was Rose's boyfriend.  
  
Tom Riddle had been dating Rose for five years. Rose was devoted to Tom, but Lily couldn't make herself trust the man. Even the fact that Brett looked up to Tom didn't convince her to let down her guard completely around him. She may have been only five, but she wasn't stupid, and she could tell that Tom was up to something funny.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Several days after Lily's seventh birthday, Rose left. She and Tom drove away one evening, and she never came back. She took nothing with her, and Lily was sure she would return someday, her usual smiling beautiful self, with some new magical gadget to amaze Lily with. After all, Rose had left without saying goodbye, and Lily was certain that whatever Rose was up to, she would never, ever leave forever without saying goodbye.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: And there it is the first chapter of my first fic. Short & sweet. The second chapter is already there (if things are going as planned), and don't forget to review. 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: There's really nothing I need to say before this chapter, but it felt weird starting a chapter without saying anything, so I thought I'd take a page out of Dumbledore's book. Squeak! Antique! Pig iron! Thank you very much!  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Lily Evans was just like any other Hogwarts fourth year. Almost.  
  
She made good grades, slightly higher than average. She was pretty, but not outstandingly so. She was a Muggle teen diva, but that kind of thing wouldn't matter at Hogwarts, even if any of the non-Muggles knew. She had her friends, and her best friend, Arabella Figg. She had enemies, too: Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy.  
  
But Lily had demons in her past. Bad memories that would never go away. She could never forgive; she would never forget.  
  
She knew what had happened to her Slytherin brother, Brett, after he had graduated. He, like Rose, had disappeared. There was no trace, not the slightest thread of evidence marking where he had gone. Lily would never tell. But she knew.  
  
A new Dark Lord had been rising. And Lily knew who he was. She didn't know why, she didn't know where, but she knew who he was.  
  
But she didn't know about Rose. What had happened to her? What had he done to her?  
  
Was she even still alive?  
  
Lily refused to believe Rose would go to his side.  
  
Then came the ultimate blow. Everything Lily loved, everything she ever cared for, was torn away. And she made a promise to herself: never again would she feel such pain. She would never again love anyone the way she had loved her family. The way she had loved Rose.  
  
And if she ever met Tom Riddle again.she would show him the meaning of pain.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Arabella Figg, fondly known as Bella, woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. Lily's movements were as noiseless as the fluttering of a butterfly's wings, but Bella was used to Lily's habits. She didn't try to stop her friend from leaving, knowing Lily needed to be alone. After all, they had been friends since they were four. Bella knew her as well as she knew herself.  
  
Ever since the tragedy, since the letter came three years ago, at the end of their first year, Lily had never been the same. True, Lily and Bella's friendship had never changed, never wavered, but Bella sensed the change, although it went unnoticed by many. Lily had never cried or publicly mourned for the loss of her parents and baby sister Amaryllis. People who knew of her celebrity status among Muggles thought she was a spoiled, stuck- up snob who only cared about fame; Non-Muggles who were unaware of her fame thought she was a cold-hearted bitch.  
  
Only Lily's close friends saw how hurt Lily really was. She kept to herself, became more aloof. She only associated with her friends, and stopped making more. Bella wasn't sure why, but she suspected it had something to do with Lily's feeling of vulnerability. Friends were Lily's weak spot; anything that deeply affected Lily's friends affected Lily as well.  
  
Bella sighed, turning over, trying to get back to sleep. Lily was still her best friend, but Bella missed the fun-loving prankster Lily used to be. Deep down, Lily was still the same, but the playful joker in her was buried under the sorrow she kept hidden from public view.  
  
She'll be okay again someday, Bella tried to convince herself. She can't spend her whole life black and blue. Not if I know Lily.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
James Potter huddled under the invisibility cloak, waiting for Sirius to give them the signal. Remus crouched beside him, grey eyes alert, while poor Peter was nearly asleep on his feet.  
  
What's taking him so long? James wondered. He knew he was being unfair, that Sirius had only been gone a couple of minutes, but he was fed up with Sirius and his crazy grudge against Narcissa Avery. The two had been going out for a week before they had a massive fight, which was, according to Sirius "all her fault." Now Sirius was determined to get back at her, and he was dragging the Marauders into his revenge.  
  
James and Remus hadn't been too keen on Sirius's idea. Lily and her friends may not have pulled any pranks in a long time, but that was no reason to risk Lily's famous redheaded temper. But, being a Marauder, James had been obligated to help. Being Marauders, he and Remus had decided to take Sirius's prank one step further. After all, if they were facing certain death, or worse, they might as well make the last attempt worth the consequences.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Lily woke suddenly. Looking up at the light filtering in through the trees, she realized she had fallen asleep and was quite probably late for class. She jumped up, brushing dirt and leaves off the cloak she had thrown on over her pjs. Hastily performing the charm that prevented anyone from entering her private meadow, she dashed towards the castle.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Bella groaned groggily as the alarm buzzed. Groping for her wand, she silenced it and turned over, preparing to go back to sleep, classes being the last thing on her mind. Unfortunately, fate (and the Marauders) had other ideas. The feeling of a gooey, smelly substance brought Bella to consciousness rather quickly, considering her lethargic condition. Even diluted, bubotuber pus was extremely unpleasant.  
  
Once awake, Bella was aware of the groans of the other girls in the dorm. She sat up to survey the damage.  
  
To Bella's right was Lily's bed, which was still empty. To Bella's left was Iris McKinnon, sitting up and looking as dismayed as Bella was. Narcissa, next to Iris, was still asleep, which was probably a good thing, as she looked to have been the most affected by the prank. At the far end of the room, Ebony and Ivory were awake and surveying the damage.  
  
Bella and Iris shared another glance. It used to be that no one dared to pull a prank like this on any of Lily's friends; the retaliation would have been too great to risk. But since Lily's tragedy, the girls' pranking had slowly come to a halt.  
  
"What ever happened to the good old days?" Iris sighed. Bella answered with a sigh of her own. They shared one last sympathetic moment before turning to comfort Narcissa, who had awakened with a wail of horror.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Lily panted as she dashed up the stairs to her dorm. She didn't think she would be late, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Skidding through the open door, she briefly wondered whether or not she had closed the door. However, the thought was erased from her mind as she continued to skid-all the way across the room, through the bathroom door, and into the bath (which was like a smaller, less fancy version of the prefects' bath)-in the half-inch of grease covering the stone floor.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Lily was silent through breakfast. Deep in thought, she didn't notice the anxious looks she received from Bella, Iris, and Narcissa, who were all liberally slathered with Anti-Itching Cream. However, she did catch the triumphant air of four somewhat sleepy Gryffindor boys.  
  
Actually, she thought to herself disgustedly, Peter isn't sleepy-he's asleep. Serves him right. He deserves it after what he did. They all do. She narrowed her eyes at the unsuspecting four.  
  
No, she corrected herself, they don't deserve it. She grinned evilly. They deserve a lot more.  
  
"Lily?" asked a worried Iris, "Are you okay? You keep spacing out on us."  
  
"You're not mad, are you?" Bella asked. Narcissa snorted. Bella ignored her. She recognized the look on Lily's face. If meant what she thought it meant, there was only one way for Lily to reply.  
  
Lily turned back to her friends. Her expression was confident, dangerous, and totally familiar to the three girls. They welcomed it and the words that came with it.  
  
"I don't get mad. I get even."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: I'm hoping things will speed up in the next chapter. I didn't make up the last line, I heard it (or read it) somewhere else, so if this is your expression, I'm sorry, but it was just perfect for that moment. BTW, I need a beta reader! Please email me if you are interested. Oh, and Review! (please) 


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